As the Energy Crisis was heaped on top of the Pollution Crisis the costs of electricity, oil, gas and coal skyrocketed. Attention turned to solar heating with the low-cost open-flow corrugated metal solar heat collector (Thomason U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,145,707; 3,215,134, etc.). The low-cost Thomason heat storage bin, using free rain from the heavens and stones from the field, was widely studied and reported in many publications (U.S. Pat. No. 3,254,702 and others). That basic storage bin, and modifications, permitted heat storage for the winter and was completely reversible for cold storage for the summer. And, it permitted "dry" storage to absorb excess moisture on hot muggy days (Thomason U.S. Pat. No. 3,812,903 and others).
Success of that storage apparatus included its ability to deliver heat out of storage down to a very low temperature level. Therefore most of the free stored solar heat could be used on cloudy days and nights before expensive auxiliary heat from oil was required. By using more heat out of storage the temperature was left lower. The water was cooler when it was pumped to the solar heat collector after the sun came out, or a bright cloudy day warmed the solar heat collector. Because the water pumped to the collector was cooler it picked up more free heat from the sun, thereby making solar heat collection more efficient. All of that lead to a very efficient system. It has low-cost components for collecting heat, storing heat, cold and dryness, and recovering heat or cold from storage by automatic controls. The systems are known as the "Thomason Solaris Systems" and have been in continuous use since 1959.